U.s. Ties Suspect To Deaths Of Couple

Singer Island Pair Were Slain In 1998

September 11, 2003|By Jon Burstein Staff Writer

Federal prosecutors publicly revealed for the first time Wednesday what they say is a long trail of evidence that connects a New Jersey man to the high-profile murders of a Singer Island couple five years ago.

Witnesses, credit cards and phone records expose how Michael "Big Mike" Koblan, 53, used a false identity and simple lies to cover up killing his sister-in-law, Janette Piro, and her husband, Christopher Benedetto, federal prosecutors said Wednesday. The case against Koblan was detailed as prosecutors blocked him from being released on bond as he awaits trial in the November 1998 slayings. He could face the death penalty if convicted of the murders.

Piro's frozen body was discovered stuffed in a bait freezer in the couple's garage almost two weeks after the couple were last seen. She had been strangled. Benedetto's body has never been found, but federal authorities believe Koblan killed him on a boat and dumped the body in the ocean.

The case quickly became one of the county's most notorious crimes, with authorities going on the television show America's Most Wanted three times in search of new information. Even though Koblan, of Point Pleasant, N.J., had been a suspect from the start, he wasn't arrested until June. Even then, federal authorities remained tight-lipped until Wednesday on what led them to Koblan.

Among the evidence revealed by prosecutors in a West Palm Beach federal courtroom:

A New York jeweler has said that Koblan, 53, brought in Piro's jewelry shortly after Benedetto, 42, disappeared and Piro's body was found. At least $70,000 worth of Piro's jewelry disappeared when the couple did.

Credit card records and a handwriting sample indicate that a day before the couple were last seen, Koblan flew to West Palm Beach using a different name and booked a room at a Singer Island home. At least two witnesses have come forward to say Koblan made phone calls lying about his whereabouts, claiming to be fishing in New England, federal authorities said. He flew back to Newark the day after the couple disappeared, according to airline records and credit card records.

A friend of Piro's is ready to testify that a few weeks before the couple's disappearance, Benedetto and Piro argued about Benedetto's ties with Koblan's trucking business. Benedetto had invested about $160,000 in Koblan's company, but federal prosecutors said Koblan had given him only $60,000 back. Piro's friend has said that the day after the argument, Piro said she wanted her husband out of Koblan's business.

A witness who reported seeing Koblan return alone on Benedetto's boat on Nov. 11, 1998, also saw Koblan cleaning the boat before he left. The witness, whom prosecutors did not name, said that two hours earlier he had heard Benedetto talking with a second man near the boat but didn't see either. After Koblan got off the boat, he drove off in Benedetto's Toyota 4Runner, the witness said.

Piro, 45, was last seen at 6:15 p.m. Nov. 11 when she talked to neighbors. She told them that her husband had been fishing with her brother-in-law and the three of them were going to dinner. Piro said she had just heard from Koblan and her husband and she needed to take a shower before going out, federal prosecutors said.

Neighbors reported seeing the 4Runner parked in front of the house shortly before 7:30 p.m. and leaving about 7:45 p.m. The vehicle was found days later in a Singer Island parking lot.

A day before neighbors alerted the couple's family members that they were missing, Koblan told someone at a social gathering that he might have to go to Florida to find his missing sister-in-law and her husband, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Steve Carlton.

A neighbor who called Piro's sister, Regina Koblan, on Nov. 15 about the couple's disappearance heard Michael Koblan shouting in the background that there was no need to call police, Carlton said.

When FBI agents arrested Koblan three months ago in the deaths, he asked if they were going to arrest his wife. At least one law enforcement official said Koblan then added: "She had nothing to do with this."

After hearing the evidence, U.S. Magistrate Judge Ann E. Vitunac said there is "a well-connected chain of circumstances" that could link him to the killings and ordered Koblan held without bond.

In addition to the two murder counts, Koblan is charged with interstate stalking of Piro, conspiring to obstruct justice and taking stolen jewelry across state lines.

Koblan showed little emotion Wednesday as he intently listened to authorities outlining the case against him. None of his family members or the victims' family members attended the court hearing.

Koblan's attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Martin Bidwill, told Vitunac that all the evidence against the father of two is circumstantial and that there's no solid proof he had any motive to kill the couple.

"There's simply a lack of clear and convincing evidence that he committed these offenses," Bidwill said.